TUCSON — Sunday morning saw a big drop in temperature, as players showed up for the first matches in 50 degree weather and cloudy skies. Rain sprinkled throughout the day but only caused a slight delay in the action. 

Gary Eisenbooth and Robert Dyke successfully defended their 70 doubles title by defeating Lou Serrone and Tom Allen in the first final of the day. Eisenbooth and Dyke have superb chemistry on the court and kept Serrone and Allen on the run all match long. 

Eisenbooth and Dyke were also in the final of the 65 doubles, where they faced off against Lloyd Garcia and Tom Martinez. Garcia and Martinez took the first game but found themselves trailing in game two. Garcia found a hard lob serve down the left that helped bring his team back into the match, and they came back to win game two and take the championship.

In the 55 doubles final, John Bike and John “Flash” Robles took down John Henning and Leo Canales in a competitive match. Bike and Robles are both powerful lefties, and they were able to score a lot of points off their serve. Henning and Canales tried to keep the ball in the back court, but Robles wasn’t having it. He had his fly kill game going which was the difference that propelled them victory. 

Bike could hardly celebrate the win before he was right back on the court in the 45-plus final.  He and David Vincent were taking on brothers Thomas and Steve Natale. Bike and Vincent started fast and remained in control, leading 20-17, before a rare double fault (screen, screen, short) by Vincent gave the serve back to the Natales, who took advantage and made an improbable comeback to steal game one, 21-20.

Riding their late-game run, the Natales jumped out to a commanding 9-0 lead in game two. With everything going wrong for Bike and Vincent, they won a crucial sideout, and that’s where the tide turned.  Bike and Vincent controlled the action the rest of the way, scoring 19 unanswered points. Team Natale made some incredible shots, but they only scored one more point in game two and only four in the tiebreaker. Between Bike’s paddle kills and Vincent’s strong serve, they scored points in bunches to win the title.  

It was a great weekend of handball with plenty of phenomenal matches. Thank you to the players who supported the tournament and the volunteers who helped make it successful–especially those who helped referee and kept matches moving along.  Special Thanks to Dave Vincent and the WPH for providing blowers to help keep the courts dry on the final Sunday.  You can check the results from all of the divisions HERE. 

TUCSON — It was another gorgeous day at the Clark Park Three-Wall Courts on Saturday. Players and spectators enjoyed delicious Sonoran Hot Dogs for lunch as they took in the action on the courts. 

Semifinals were taking place across all divisions and there were several thrilling matches as players battled for a spot in the finals. 

Both semifinals in the 45 doubles needed a tiebreaker to determine the winner. In the first semifinal, brothers Thomas and Steve Natale edged out a 21-20 game one victory over John Henning and Leo Canales before dropping the second game. The Natale’s regrouped in the tiebreaker and held Henning and Canales to just one point. 

On the other side of the bracket, John Bike and David Vincent were making their return to tournament play and had a tough matchup against Phoenix’s Francisco Esparza and Washington’s Andy Romanchock. Despite Esparza and Romanchock being a first time pairing, they pushed Bike and Vincent to a tiebreaker. The tiebreaker looked as if it could go either way but some timely serves from Bike and Vincent pushed them into the finals where they will face the Natale brothers. 

A few finals were completed on Saturday evening and we saw our first national champions crowned of the weekend. 

Merv Deckert and Ed Campbell added another title to their collection, but their first in the 75 age group, as they defeated Peter Anderson and David Ackerman to clinch the title. 

The highly anticipated 35 doubles final was played, pitting Shorty Ruiz and Jeff Streibig against Abraham Montijo and Eric Hillgren. All four players continue to play at an incredible high level, but this was Ruiz and Streibig’s day. Ruiz kept his opponents in the back court by utilizing strong ceiling shots and deep drives. Streibig pounced on weak returns, as he and Ruiz cruised to a 21-11, 21-11 victory. 

In the last match of the day, Ruiz teamed with Sam Esser in the Pro doubles finale where they handled Ivan Burgos and Max Langmack to take home the title. 

A reception was held Saturday night at the Hall of Fame building where players enjoyed checking out the game’s rich history and chatting about handball with new and old friends.

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